Wednesday, April 9, 2014

April's Cookbook of the Month: The Blender Girl

The Blender Girl

What’s your perfect blend?On her wildly popular recipe blog, Tess Masters—aka, The Blender Girl—shares easy plant-based recipes that anyone can whip up fast in a blender. Tess’s lively, down-to-earth approach has attracted legions of fans looking for quick and fun ways to prepare healthy food. In The Blender Girl, Tess’s much-anticipated debut cookbook, she offers 100 whole-food recipes that are gluten-free and vegan, and rely on natural flavors and sweeteners. Many are also raw and nut-, soy-, corn-, and sugar-free. Smoothies, soups, and spreads are a given in a blender cookbook, but this surprisingly versatile collection also includes appetizers, salads, and main dishes with a blended component, like Fresh Spring Rolls withOrange-Almond Sauce, Twisted Caesar Pleaser, SpicyChickpea Burgers with Portobello Buns and Greens, and I-Love-Veggies! Bake. And even though many of Tess’s smoothies and shakes taste like dessert—Apple Pie in aGlass,Raspberry-Lemon Cheesecake, or Tastes-Like-Ice-Cream Kale, anyone?—her actual desserts are out-of this-world good, from Chocolate-Chile Banana Spilly to Flourless Triple-Pecan Mousse Pie and Chai Rice Pudding. Best of all, every recipe can easily be adjusted to your personal taste: add an extra squeeze of this, another handful of that, or leave something out altogether— these dishes are super forgiving, so you can’t mess them up.Details on the benefits of soaking, sprouting, and dehydrating; proper food combining; and eating raw, probiotic-rich, and alkaline ingredients round out this nutrient-dense guide. But you don’t have to understand the science of good nutrition to run with The Blender Girl—all you need is a blender and a sense of adventure. So dust off your machine and get ready to find your perfect blend.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to be testing out The Blender Girl cookbook. Written by a fantastic blogger, Tess Masters, this book has been a highly anticipated release for many people. I just received my copy in the mail, and I am a little ticked that I have been too busy (and out of the country) to get started. That gets remedied today! To be honest, I'm actually a bit nervous about this one. I really, really, want to like this one. I hope it lives up to the hype!I use my blender a lot, and since I still haven't gotten around to buying a juicer, it's nice to have a book that caters to the basic piece of equipment I own. I can't wait to get blending. Guess what? I will also be hosting a giveaway for a copy of the book over the next few days, so stay posted!